Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Interesting Article, but not for the faint-hearted!
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What food causes flatulence?
It's happened to us all. You're standing in a lift when suddenly that silent but deadly smell spreads through the air. Michael set out to ascertain what kind of foods are most likely to cause flatulence.
The test
Toilet humour starts in our school days. Whether we're two or 20, we can find flatulence funny but this laughing gas is also a social embarrassment and a source of domestic strife.
Vic and Kathy Hanisch have survived decades of marriage — despite Vic's colon coughs. On average, men will do it 14 times a day. Vic got his title of trumpeter by letting rip at least 25 times a day.
"If I'm alone or with friends it's easier to get it out as opposed to in a shopping centre or so forth," says Vic.
"He lets it go there too and that's what really irritates me," objects Kathy. "If we are in a shopping centre, he just lets it go."
Says Vic, "But they don't stink!"
Vic blames his vegetarian diet for his wind. According to gastroenterologist Professor Terry Bolin, Vic's right. He says up to 90 percent of wind is down to the food you eat.
"Over a 24-hour period you might produce two and a half litres a day of gas and two litres is what you might find in an average party balloon that you blow up, so it's quite substantial," says Prof. Bolin.
Gas is caused by fibre, starch and some complex sugars that aren't easily digested. They're fermented by bacteria in the colon, producing hydrogen, methane and hydrogen sulphide gases. These gases are expelled as wind.
Which foods produce the most gas? Most people blame baked beans — are they right?
To find out, we enlist the help of a very accommodating bunch of guys from the local footy team.
For one day, each of our volunteers eats only one food. Simon gets the pre-match favourite, baked beans. For Clint it's veggies, especially cabbage and broccoli. Tim will be our eggs-pert. Joey does dairy and it's meat for Matt. Chris gets the plum job — fart master.
"The difficult thing with being a fart master is trying to actually count how many farts they actually do," says Chris.
Fart master Chris is being kept busy. One thing he has noticed is a variation in quality. Some are loud and some are smelly — why are they different?
"The volume influences the loudness — the greater the volume the louder the fart," says Prof. Bolin.
The smell depends on the amount of sulphur you eat. Sulphur is found in meat, eggs and some veggies. Therefore, a nice plate of sausage and egg should produce some real stink bombs — but surprisingly, only for half of us.
"The population is roughly divided into those who aren't going to produce hydrogen sulphide gas, which is the cause of the aroma, and those who do," explains Prof. Bolin. "That depends on the bacteria you've got in very large quantities in your colon."
By the end of the day Clint and his cabbage are out in front with a score of 13. He's ahead of the pre-match favourite, Simon and his baked beans on 11. A long night lies ahead for our fart master who has to stay awake in this roomful of stinkers and keep score.
The results
By morning Matt, who ate meat, is at the bottom of the table with eight farts. Next is Joey on 13 with his dairy diet. Eggs gave Tim a total of 17 and Clint's veggies ended up in second place with 29. The big winner by a long margin was Simon and the baked beans with a whopping windy score of 37.
Beans really do deserve their reputation. It seems they're a deadly combination of fibre and complex sugars — two of the three biggest wind producers. They pass straight to the colon, where the bacteria think it's party time.
Conclusion
Says Prof. Bolin, "Farting is not a symptom of disease — in fact, it's sign of good health. You're eating a healthy diet and paying the price for it by eating more fibre than next person."
The best way to fight flatulence is to limit the trigger foods; those beans; vegetables like cabbage and broccoli; smelly eggs, and fizzy drinks, which fill you up with gas.
If you're really self conscious, you could perhaps try a carbon cushion, designed to absorb those silent but deadly aromas.
If you're worried you've got a problem with excessive flatulence, talk to your doctor about it.
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
What food causes flatulence?
It's happened to us all. You're standing in a lift when suddenly that silent but deadly smell spreads through the air. Michael set out to ascertain what kind of foods are most likely to cause flatulence.
The test
Toilet humour starts in our school days. Whether we're two or 20, we can find flatulence funny but this laughing gas is also a social embarrassment and a source of domestic strife.
Vic and Kathy Hanisch have survived decades of marriage — despite Vic's colon coughs. On average, men will do it 14 times a day. Vic got his title of trumpeter by letting rip at least 25 times a day.
"If I'm alone or with friends it's easier to get it out as opposed to in a shopping centre or so forth," says Vic.
"He lets it go there too and that's what really irritates me," objects Kathy. "If we are in a shopping centre, he just lets it go."
Says Vic, "But they don't stink!"
Vic blames his vegetarian diet for his wind. According to gastroenterologist Professor Terry Bolin, Vic's right. He says up to 90 percent of wind is down to the food you eat.
"Over a 24-hour period you might produce two and a half litres a day of gas and two litres is what you might find in an average party balloon that you blow up, so it's quite substantial," says Prof. Bolin.
Gas is caused by fibre, starch and some complex sugars that aren't easily digested. They're fermented by bacteria in the colon, producing hydrogen, methane and hydrogen sulphide gases. These gases are expelled as wind.
Which foods produce the most gas? Most people blame baked beans — are they right?
To find out, we enlist the help of a very accommodating bunch of guys from the local footy team.
For one day, each of our volunteers eats only one food. Simon gets the pre-match favourite, baked beans. For Clint it's veggies, especially cabbage and broccoli. Tim will be our eggs-pert. Joey does dairy and it's meat for Matt. Chris gets the plum job — fart master.
"The difficult thing with being a fart master is trying to actually count how many farts they actually do," says Chris.
Fart master Chris is being kept busy. One thing he has noticed is a variation in quality. Some are loud and some are smelly — why are they different?
"The volume influences the loudness — the greater the volume the louder the fart," says Prof. Bolin.
The smell depends on the amount of sulphur you eat. Sulphur is found in meat, eggs and some veggies. Therefore, a nice plate of sausage and egg should produce some real stink bombs — but surprisingly, only for half of us.
"The population is roughly divided into those who aren't going to produce hydrogen sulphide gas, which is the cause of the aroma, and those who do," explains Prof. Bolin. "That depends on the bacteria you've got in very large quantities in your colon."
By the end of the day Clint and his cabbage are out in front with a score of 13. He's ahead of the pre-match favourite, Simon and his baked beans on 11. A long night lies ahead for our fart master who has to stay awake in this roomful of stinkers and keep score.
The results
By morning Matt, who ate meat, is at the bottom of the table with eight farts. Next is Joey on 13 with his dairy diet. Eggs gave Tim a total of 17 and Clint's veggies ended up in second place with 29. The big winner by a long margin was Simon and the baked beans with a whopping windy score of 37.
Beans really do deserve their reputation. It seems they're a deadly combination of fibre and complex sugars — two of the three biggest wind producers. They pass straight to the colon, where the bacteria think it's party time.
Conclusion
Says Prof. Bolin, "Farting is not a symptom of disease — in fact, it's sign of good health. You're eating a healthy diet and paying the price for it by eating more fibre than next person."
The best way to fight flatulence is to limit the trigger foods; those beans; vegetables like cabbage and broccoli; smelly eggs, and fizzy drinks, which fill you up with gas.
If you're really self conscious, you could perhaps try a carbon cushion, designed to absorb those silent but deadly aromas.
If you're worried you've got a problem with excessive flatulence, talk to your doctor about it.
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